Les Batailles de Reines

The Battle of queens (cows) is a folk event taking place in Valle d'Aosta each year. There is fighting between pregnant cows to elect Reina di lace , the "Queen of milk."

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The Battle of queens (cows) is a folk event taking place in Valle d'Aosta each year. There is fighting between pregnant cows to elect Reina di lace , the "Queen of milk."

The queens are the winners of local competitions, held between April and October in Leuk, Chippis, Le Châble and Evolène, other towns in the Valais and Matterhorn Region. After the finals in Martigny, the canton championships are held in May, in the Valais town of Aproz, near Sion. The event is so popular that it attracts 10,000 spectators.

Cowfighting championships are also social occasions for farmers and their families. Those who can't attend watch the finals on television or listen to Rhone FM, a radio station in Valais with a weekly cow fight program.

Spectators arrive early to get good seats, because the event draws thousands of people. The program divides more than 100 bovine competitors into five or six categories, based on weight, from light weight to heavyweight. Herens weigh between 550 and 750 kilograms. Entrants range from three to 11 years old.

Each cow has a big white number painted on her side. The program lists each cow's number, name, height in centimetres, name and address of the owner, as well as the names of the six men on the jury and the five rabatturs or referees.

Rabattur literally means "one who breaks up." Although they carry sticks, these men just bring the cows in and out of the ring and make sure that nothing goes out of control during the tournament.